• Services
• Patient & Visitor Information
• Maps & Directions
• Community
• Ways To Give
• About Inova

Register or Login to MyHealth

Donate Now

• (+)Text Size
• (-)Text Size
• Print Page
• 
• Email Page

Inova Fairfax Hospital Physicians Using Photodynamic Therapy and Endoscopy to Eradicate Cancer

January 30, 2008
Therapy Uses Light to Kill Cancer Cells; Patients Avoid Surgery
Falls Church, VA— For the first time in Northern Virginia, gastroenterologists at Inova Fairfax Hospital have used photodynamic therapy (PDT) and endoscopy to treat a patient with cancer of the esophagus. Photodynamic therapy uses drugs called photosensitizing agents that, when activated by light, kill cancer cells.
    “In the past, this patient would have needed surgery to remove the esophagus,” said Ali Fazel, MD, medical director, Center of Advanced Endoscopy, Inova Fairfax Hospital. “By combining the techniques of endoscopy with modern laser technology, we’re able to access and destroy the cancerous cells. This allows for the eradication of cancer without the need for major surgery in select patients.”
    Gastroenterologists perform PDT by first injecting a photosensitizing agent into the bloodstream, which is absorbed by the cancer cells. A light source is then applied only to the cancerous area of the digestive tract. The light causes the drug to react with oxygen, which forms a chemical that kills the cancer cells.    
    Studies have shown that PDT can effectively treat certain kinds of cancers and pre-cancerous conditions. Some of the advantages may include:
• It has the potential to cure early cancers.
• It allows patients to avoid the risks associated with surgery.
• It can be targeted very precisely.
• It can be administered as an outpatient procedure.
    Physicians at Inova’s Center for Advanced Endoscopy use minimally invasive techniques to diagnose, assess and stage digestive tract cancers. The center’s services focus on benign and malignant diseases of the digestive tract, including the esophagus, stomach, colon, and pancreaticobiliary system, which is composed of the pancreas, gallbladder, liver and bile duct.
    The gastroenterologists work as part of a team with oncologists, radiation therapists and oncologic surgeons to treat each patient. Other procedures include diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound, endoscope mucosal resections, and complex pancreaticobiliary endoscopy.
    Click here for more information about Inova’s Center for Advanced Endoscopy.
    
    Inova Health System is a not-for-profit health care system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency and urgent care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research. Inova provides a healthy environment for its patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians by prohibiting tobacco use on its campuses.